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Research suggests 700,000 children could be lifted out of poverty overnight

Research suggests 700,000 children could be lifted out of poverty overnight by following Scotland's approach

Posted on 27 March 2025

The Westminster government could cut child poverty in the UK by a sixth – or 700,000 children – if they were to match Scotland’s investment in social security, according to a new report.

The report, from the Changing Realities collaboration, led by Professor Ruth Patrick of the University of York and London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), comes as the UK Government announced cuts to social security in recent days, which their own impact assessment shows will increase poverty.

Growing gap

Annual poverty statistics show that a growing gap is emerging between the poverty rates of Scottish children, when compared to those in the rest of the UK.The Scottish Government has provided targeted investment at families with children, including through the flagship Scottish Child Payment, which provides £26.70 per child per week for families on a low-income. This means that a family with three children would receive almost £5,500 more a year in household income than their English counterpart.

The new report found that if the UK Government were to match this investment (equivalent to £400 per child per year), they could reduce child poverty by 5 percentage points.

The report sets out how the UK Government could switch the dial on child poverty, and shares the priorities of change for parents living in poverty in the UK today.

Change lives

Tayyaba Siddiqui, a working parent from London, and a participant in Changing Realities, said: “My child is affected every day by our poverty. It doesn't have to be this way. I would like the Government to follow Scotland's lead and invest in our social security system. That investment is so long overdue and could change lives, and overnight. Surely my son and all the others in poverty deserve nothing less.”

The UK Government has committed to publishing a Child Poverty Strategy this year, promising action to address the ‘moral stain’ of child poverty. But recent announcements will drive poverty in the wrong direction and a change of course is urgently needed, the authors of the report say.

The latest poverty statistics show that 23% of children in Scotland were living in poverty in 2023/24. This compares with 31% of children in England and Wales.

Action

Ruth Patrick, Professor in Social Policy at the School for Business and Society at the University of York and Visiting Professor at LSE’s Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE), said: “Enough is enough. We need to see action on child poverty and we need to see it now. The UK Government seems to have lost their way on tackling this pernicious policy problem that blights lives, and robs children of their childhood and their futures.

"The progress Scotland has made on driving poverty rates down shows another way is possible. The UK Government could lift 700,000 children out of poverty overnight by matching Scotland’s fiscal commitment to driving poverty down.”